Basic Farm Animal Husbandry Skills

Over the years I have learned that many folks who take on a farm are not always well informed or skilled in the basics of general animal husbandry.

Though we have many outstanding veterinary practitioners in America, many are either not accessible, unaffordable, or ill-trained in the care of large farm animals and exotic quadrapeds.

I’ve always felt strongly that when we take on the responsibility of raising and rearing any specie of farm animal, we take on burdens similar to having children.

Most families know how to monitor the general health and well-being of their children, monitoring behavior observation, eating and drinking habits, temperature, respiratory or digestive disorders, cuts, abrasions, and other forms of major and minor trauma.

Most families also provide preventative vaccinations for protection from childhood diseases.

Guess what? Domestic farm animals are not much different than us.

However, certain skills are required of the animal caretaker that may require further education–the best is hands-on experience coupled with book or semi-technical learning.

My grandfather always taught me an important practice that I still follow: “If you take care of your animals, they will take care of you.” I can honestly attest to the truthfulness of this statement through my many decades of experiences.

Certain basic skills are necessary for any livestock owner to properly care for his herd, understand animal vital signs and prevent disease. By learning these basic skills, you will not only save animals, but reduce veterinary costs. The following skills will make you a better livestock husbandman:

• Observation
• Animal restraint
• Taking and evaluating vital signs
• Basic wound care
• Ruminant hoof care
• Administration of oral medicines
• Administration of injectible vaccines, antibiotics, etc.

Observation

In today’s world of corporate, large-scale livestock operations and in confinement facilities, employees do not really observe the animals under their care.

They may look at them periodically, but to observe is more than a simple walk-by in a barn, pasture, dry lot or paddock.

Far too often, hired help just throws out the hay, puts grain in the feeders and checks the waterers without looking at each individual animal.

A good husbandman must have a sincere and desirous interest to care for his animals. For this reason, it is important to have the same person or persons oversee certain animals, flocks, pens, corrals or herds and spend time each day strictly observing their behavior.

If the caretaker knows his or her animals normal behavior, then the early stages of a health problem will be recognized and can be treated earlier, saving the possible loss of one or more animals, significant veterinary costs and a reduction in the earning ability of your herd.

Important animal characteristics to monitor on a daily basis are:

• abnormal behavior
• stance, movement, back and ear posture
• nasal discharge
• rubbing
• fecal consistency (i.e. scours, blood in feces or internal parasite body parts)
• tail carriage
• body condition
• hair quantity and quality
• lameness and localized swelling.

Any abnormal conditions should direct the caretaker to take the vital signs of the abnormally behaving animal.

Livestock owners should also be familiar with common regional and local diseases and parasites that may affect their animals and monitor the various portals of entry such as nose, eyes, anus, udder, or injuries such as shearing cuts or tail-docking wounds.

Animal Restraint

To successfully manage livestock on any level, you must have a basic knowledge of animal psychology and behavior.

When catching and restraining animals for examination and treatment, stress must be minimized to the animal as well as to the handler.

Undue stress imposed on an animal can reduce the efficacy of health care and slow the healing process. If an animal has an unpleasant initial experience, additional treatments may be more difficult to carry out.

In general, when handling an animal, avoid excessive noise, rapid and jerky movements, hot shots or electric prods and night-time hours. Reducing the presence of unknown people and unfamiliar handling protocols will also minimize animal stress.

Most farm animals can be treated standing on their feet, but occasionally an animal may need to be cast (laid on its side) for treatment. If extra help is required, provide individuals with basic instructions on what you’re wanting to do and how you want them to respond and conduct themselves during that time.

Each of the large-animal domestic species has unique restraint tools and recommendations–become familiar with proper handling techniques and equipment.

Taking Vital Signs

Vital signs include the animal’s temperature, pulse and respiration rate.

1. Temperature

An animal’s temperature should always be taken via the rectum. (Novices occasionally insert the thermometer into the vaginal area in females, which is ineffective.) The rectum on females is always above the vulva and closest to the tail or dock of the animal.

Prior to inserting the thermometer into the animal, disinfect it with either isopropyl alcohol or Novalsan (a veterinary antiseptic agent) and coat with plenty of lubricant. The tissue in the rectum can be torn or perforated easily if lubricant isn’t used.

Various types of veterinary thermometers are available in a range of prices.

The traditional, older-style thermometer contains mercury at one end of a sealed glass tube; with the increase in temperature, the mercury expands along the column and readings are taken from the height of the column.

Using this type of thermometer has its risks, particularly with animals not used to being handled or restrained.

If an animal moves abruptly and inadequate lubricant was used, the thermometer can break and shattered glass and mercury can cause rectal trauma and damage.

A safer option is the smaller, less expensive, digital-probe veterinary thermometer. Always tie your thermometer to a string with a clip attached to the end so as not to lose it inside the rectum should the animal startle or move away.

2. Pulse or Heart Rate

To take the pulse or heart rate of animal, locate the pulse at the angle of the lower jaw bone, where it can be felt by pressing the artery against the bone. To calculate beats per minute, count the beats for 15 seconds and multiply by four.

3. Respiration

To take the respiration rate of an animal, count its number of breaths per minute by watching the flanks or by watching for nostril movements or flares. For normal temperature, pulse and respiration rates, see “Normal Values” sidebar. If your animal’s values are found to be higher or faster than normal, you have an indication that it is most likely ill.

Basic Wound Care

Despite even the most preventative and conscientious animal husbandry, wounds happen. Common wounds include lacerations, punctures, abrasions, bruises (contusions), burns or ruptured abscesses.

1. Lacerations

Lacerations are torn or ragged wounds generally caused by sharp objects such as metallic objects, glass, barbed wire fences, protruding fencing wire, baling type wire, etc. Lacerations often can be stitched by your veterinarian if found within 24 hours of the injury.

2. Punctures

Puncture wounds are holes or perforations due to piercing from nails, fence staples, wood splinters, etc. Puncture wounds can penetrate tissue more deeply than lacerations and debris deep within a wound is a concern. All internal dirt must be removed or infection may result. Puncture wounds may not bleed excessively but are very serious injuries.

3. Abrasions

Abrasions affect only the surface layers of the skin and are the result of rough surfaces, such as that of working corrals, stalls, trailers, halters, ropes, general tack, straps, etc., coming into contact with skin. Abrasions can be deep and require additional medical attention.

4. Bruises

A bruise is skin discoloration due to the release of blood from ruptured vessels following a traumatic injury or improper handling. The hair on domestic animals generally conceals bruising, but swelling can occur at the bruise site.

5. Burns

Livestock burns are commonly cause by chemicals, electricity, sunlight (with light-skinned animals) and heat. The magnitude of the burn can vary from mild redness to blistering, or actual destruction of the skin. Burns vary in severity and their treatment requirements.

Abscesses

An abscess is a localized accumulation of pus surrounded by a fibrous capsule and can occur nearly anywhere on the body. Abscesses and their origins can be very complicated, but many are caused by bacteria that spread to other areas of the body. When external, abscesses are more susceptible to rupturing; a ruptured abscess usually discharges its pus and heals. However, the wound may continue to release pus that can spread infection to other animals.

When treating a wound, proper restraint is critical in administering care, medications or the application of bandages.

Treating the Wound

The most important tool to treating animal injuries or wounds is the first-aid kit. When injury strikes and veterinary care isn’t feasible, you must be prepared to provide emergency veterinary medical care.

One way to prepare for these circumstances is to meet with your local large-animal veterinarian and get his or her recommendations for the development of an essential on-farm first-aid kit.

Another source for this information is your local Cooperative Extension County Agent, who usually has access to the expertise of the State Extension Veterinarian. For our recommendations, see “On-Farm First-Aid Kit” sidebar.

1. Halt Blood Loss

Once the animal is restrained, your primary objective should be to halt blood loss.

Blood-stop powder, or hemodust, will help stop blood loss in most minor wounds. Some wounds will need to be wrapped with absorbent material, such as gauze pads, and have pressure applied directly to it. It is important to stop blood loss as soon as possible.

2. Clean the Wound Location

It’s best to trim or clip any hair surrounding the wound.

The wound should be cleansed and free of debris, foreign materials and feces. Irrigate the wound with a clean, disposable syringe (without a needle) with saline solution, isopropyl alcohol or clean water.

Saline is the preferred solution for cleaning wounds since it will not interfere with other cell and tissue functions.

Once the wound is clean, evaluate it and classify it as a laceration, puncture or abrasion to determine your course of treatment.

3. Classify, Treat and Bandage the Wound

You can classify wounds based on their appearance: a laceration is a wound with torn and ragged edges; a puncture wound is a deep wound or hole in the skin, dermal tissue and other layers caused by a sharp object (nail, fence staple, piece of metal); abrasion: a wound in which the skin or other external surface is scraped, scratched, torn or otherwise exposed.

Most livestock supply stores and catalogues have various topical agents in the form of salves, aerosols, powders and injectibles.

Antibacterial products are essential because bacterial infections result from most wounds and post-wound treatment or non-treatment.

During the warmer months when flies are present, it is critical to apply a fly repellent near the wound to prevent flies from laying eggs inside the wound.

Once the wound is treated, apply antibacterial ointment and place clean cotton or a cotton gauze pad onto the wound.

Top with an elastic gauze (like Vetrap) bandage, but be sure not to wrap too tightly. Bandages should be checked at least twice daily and changed every other day.

Once the wound starts to heal, bandages can be changed less frequently, every two to three days.

Other treatments for the various wound types may involve administering a tetanus shot.

Systemic treatment with injectable antibiotics, such as penicillin, oxytetracycline and terramyacin, may also be necessary based on your vets assessment that the wound is (or could become) infected.

Your vet will check for infection by taking your animal’s temperature, checking to see if the site of the injury is sore and hot, and monitoring breathing and respiration rates.

If an infection is present, an animal normally has an elevated temperature and heart rate, as well as heat and soreness at the injury site. If you and your vet determine antibiotics are necessary, discuss proper dosage and length of treatment. If you are using a product from a previous incident, be sure it has not expired.

Hoof Care

Hoof care is one of the most important animal husbandry skills to learn and master.

Hoof injuries and improper hoof care can lead to early culling of farm animals, lameness, hoof injury and poor foot paring by the caretaker. It can also lead to a host of other health problems. Owners should learn basic foot and hoof structure of the animals they manage, as well as what a properly trimmed hoof looks like.

Hooves grow at different rates; this rate is determined largely by the environment in which the animal resides.

Animals in the West that are herded and moved over rock and sand, and that travel distances for forage and water, generally do not need much hoof care because of the constant wear on the feet. However, animals confined to barns, corrals or forage pastures will need more attention and more frequent trimming due to a lack of wear and tear from hard surfaces.

The most common hoofcare problem is simply lack of attention by livestock owners.

Without regular trimming, hooves grow excessively long and the toes curl up, making it difficult and uncomfortable for the animal to walk.

In some parts of the United States, professional hoof trimmers can be hired, but in areas where animal density and demand for such services are limited, the owner will have to do his/her own foot paring. Owners should develop a hoof-trimming calendar and schedule regular trimmings based on your animal’s needs—a rough estimate for ruminants is once every four weeks. However, in between trimmings, any sign of lameness should be examined closely.

Foot injuries caused by rock bruising, nail or wire punctures, or paring off too much of the foot are not serious. However, foot abscesses and contagious foot rot, evidenced by a foul odor, cheese-like substance and lameness, are conditions that require proper attention and quarantining of affected animals, as well as professional veterinary care.

All hoof wounds, whether caused by environmental conditions or by improper foot paring, should be treated with antibacterial and antifungal hoof dressings such as Koppertox, available at livestock supply stores. These dressings also provide a sealant for the hoof wound or trauma.

Oral Medicines

The administration of liquids, boluses (pills or oblets; large pills) or pastes must be done properly, or illness and even death can occur.

Before these can be given safely, the animal must be restrained adequately.

Both liquid drenches and boluses must be administered with the animal’s mouth opened and the drench gun or dose syringe placed over the top of the tongue while the head is level, not lifted or tipped. To open the mouth, stand alongside the animal and use your thumb and fingers on one hand to open it while you hold the instrument in the other hand.

To give oral products successfully, it’s best to deposit them far back in the mouth near the root of the tongue, where the swallowing reflex nerves are located.

1. Drenching

Drenching is the oral administration of a liquid medication. Regular drenching with anthelmintics (dewormers), bloat treatment agents and some anti-scour products are commonly performed with a drench gun or dose syringe. Automatic drenching guns with a reservoir back pack are available for those who dose a large number of animals.

2. Boluses

Boluses (pills or oblets) are more convenient than liquid products because they tend to have a longer storage life. Common bolus medications include Phenylbutazone (Bute) and sulfamethoxazole (SMZ).

Balling guns or pill forceps can be used to administer boluses. Because boluses are dry and more difficult for the animal to swallow, dip both the balling gun or pill forceps and the bolus into mineral oil, which acts as a lubricant, to ease administration and reduce the possibility of the animal spitting the bolus out or injuring its mouth with the dry bolus.

3. Pastes

Pastes are usually deworming agents given to the animal with a caulking-type gun. As with the other oral medical products, pastes must be administered on top of the tongue. Be sure to hold the animal securely until all of the paste has been swallowed.

Making Meds Easy

Getting your livestock to take medicines, either pill form or liquid, can be a bit tricky—especially if the animals are picky eaters. Here are some tips to get your animals to take their medicine a bit easier.

• Put smaller pills in treats such as carrots, shredded wheat cereal or animal crackers.
• If you are administering a small amount of liquid, a marshmallow is great at disguising the medicinal taste.
  
• If you need to feed multiple pills to larger livestock, place them in a large syringe with some water, wait for them to dissolve, and administer the meds as you would a liquid. The water can be flavored with a powdered drink mix or juice, or you can use applesauce instead of water (the thicker sauce mixes with and disguises the medicine better).
• Mix medicines with mint-flavored Maalox for easy administration of pills and powders to horses. An added benefit? The Maalox will coat the stomach, helping to prevent possible upset.
• Fruits such as bananas and oranges are often used to mix with medicines to disguise their flavoring and to encourage the animal to ingest the meds.

Injectables

Before giving your animal any injectable product, you must receive training by your veterinarian or by a neighbor who is experienced and competent in administering injections.

Multiple-injection, gun-type syringes single-use, disposable syringes can be used, depending on your needs. Both are available at livestock and veterinary supply retailers.

Multiple-injection type guns are preferred where large numbers of livestock are involved and repeated vaccinations or boosters must be given.

Syringes may be boiled for cleaning or sterilized using one of the cold veterinary disinfectants such as Novalsan.

Disposable syringes should be used once and discarded.

Needle size depends upon the type of injection and the location where it will be given. The two most common injection types are intramuscular (IM) and subcutaneous (SQ or SC), though knowledge of intravenous (IV) injections is also helpful.

Vaccines or other injections should always be given via the recommended method—an improper route can result in failure of the agent and a localized reaction. Needle length and gauge (diameter) are also important factors for successful vaccination.

1. Intramuscular

Intramuscular injections are picked up by the blood supply and spread to all body tissues fairly rapidly.

The best site to administer IM shots is in and around the heavy muscles of the animal’s neck. This site reduces potential muscular damage to the carcass (if for meat purposes) and minimizes possible nerve damage. Animals that are not destined for the meat market can be given IM injections in the rear quarters.

No more than 15 ccs should be given at any one site on the animal.

To avoid unintentional intravenous (IV) injection, pull back on the syringe plunger after you have inserted the needle to be sure no blood flows into the syringe. If blood appears, you have accidentally hit a vein. Pull the needle out completely and re-insert the needle in a new, clean site. You do not need to use a new needle.

2. Subcutaneous

With subcutaneous injections, a 3/4 or 1 inch needle of 18 to 20 gauge in diameter is advised. The loose skin located on the side of the neck, behind the elbow or in the armpit are good locations for subcutaneous injections.

These injections are given just under the skin by forming a tent or tepee of loose tissue, but not into the muscle tissue.

Subcutaneous-administered agents are not picked up by the blood supply as quickly as IM injections. As with the IM injection, pull back on the syringe plunger to make sure no blood appears in the syringe when administering a SQ shot. If blood appears, pull the needle out completely and re-insert it into a new site.

3. Intravenous

It is recommended that you learn how to administer an IV injection from a veterinarian or experienced livestock owner. The rapid injection of any medication can be lethal; all IV injections should be given slowly.

Intravenous injections are quickly spread to all body tissues.

This is critical in instances where an animal may need medications or fluids immediately because of sickness or dehydration. Cases of scours, milk fever (hypocalcemia), grass tetany (hypomagnesemia) and pregnancy toxemia (ketosis) usually require immediate IV fluids. When giving IV injections or medicinals, generally a 1 to 1½ inch, 16 to 18 gauge needle is recommended.

The best location to give large volume IV injections is in the jugular vein, located in the neck.

4. Intramammary Infusion

An intramammary infusion is an antibiotic used to treat mastitis in cows, goats, ewes and other animals. Infusions are sold in plastic tubes with smooth, plastic needles for insertion into the udder of the infected animal.

Teats should be cleaned and dipped in a germicidal product before and after treatment to avoid introducing more harmful organisms back into the udder.

5. Needle Choice

It’s important to use the correct gauge of needle.

Too large of needle diameter (the smaller number gauge, the larger the diameter) may result in a large wound that allows leakage of the medication, whereas too small a diameter slows down the administration of the injection.

If a needle is too long, it may bend or break inside the animal; too-short a needle will not get deep enough into the muscle tissue for intramuscular injections.

If any needles are bent or dropped on the ground, do not use them. The most commonly used needles and syringes are disposable; all discarded disposable syringes and needles should be placed securely in a sharps container rather than the trash can.

Contact your local veterinarian for recommended disposal of your sharps. Sometimes local human hospitals or veterinary clinics will take and discard them for you.

Finally, the use of animal drugs in farm and food animal production must be accepted as a responsibility rather than a right when trying to improve animal health.

Drugs should be used to enhance a health program, not as a substitute for good management. Disease prevention is based on good nutritional and environmental factors, sanitation and the use of a balanced herd or flock health program.

Use vaccines to prevent common diseases and occasionally segregate or cull infected animals.

Good husbandry practices improves the animal’s environment, prevents animal stress that leads to disease and generally reduces the need for drugs. Medications used as a supplement to good management must be chosen carefully with regard for the specific disease problem (causes, diagnosis and prevention). After medication selection, correct dosage and method of administration is key to animal health.

*This article is not a substitute for veterinary treatment by a licensed veterinarian.

This article first appeared in the January/February 2007 issue of Hobby Farms magazine.

Consider this. Yaks and water buffalo are domestic livestock, not exotics.

• You don’t need special permits, expensive specialty fencing or elaborate handling facilities to raise them.
• Both species thrive on marginal pasture and they require one-quarter to one-half the forage a beef cow eats.
• Plus, they’re protective mothers that calve with ease; you needn’t pull calves when raising these bovines.
• They’re parasite and disease resistant, they have wonderfully sound hooves and they’re remarkably long-lived.

Best of all, with proper training they’re docile, friendly beasts—and you can ride them!

Yaks

Yaks (Bos grunniens) were domesticated somewhere on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of Tibet around 3000-2500 B.C., then they spread north and south throughout western China to Mongolia and beyond.

Why Raise Yaks?

There are 14.2 million domestic yaks in the world; 13.3 million of them still in Chinese territories. Smaller populations are found in pockets around the world, including North America.

Besides riding and packing with your yaks you can market yak meat (it’s dark red, very lean, and wonderfully succulent), skulls, horns and hides (yak robes fetch a very handsome price).

If you’d prefer not to raise them for slaughter, their rich milk (use it to make fancy yak-milk soaps) and cashmere-quality undercoat (each yak yields about a pound of crimpy, short-stapled, 14-16 micron fiber every spring and you can comb it out instead of shearing; raw fiber brings $4-5 per ounce) are in hot demand.

And yaks are beautiful.

• They have long, dense outer hair coats set off by luxurious forelocks, horse-like tails and long skirts of hair that almost brush the ground.
• Their handlebar horns set off regal, broad-nosed faces.
• Thick, compact bodies, short legs and humped shoulders are also hallmarks of this interesting species.

Cows average 54 inches tall and weigh 500-800 pounds; bulls and steers are taller and weigh 1,200-1,500 pounds full-grown.

Did You Know … About Yaks?

• Yaks are perfectly adapted to high altitudes, having larger lungs and heart than cattle found at lower altitudes, as well as greater capacity for transporting oxygen though their blood.
• Bos grunniens means “grunting ox.” Neither yaks nor water buffalo moo like domestic cattle.
• According to The Yak; Second Edition, about 1.3 million yaks are marketed in China annually. Chinese yaks also produce 226,000 tons of meat; 13,000 tons of fiber; 715,000 tons of milk; and 170,000 hides per year.
• Read our yak breed profile included with all our with cattle breed profiles.

Water Buffalo

Worldwide there are 141 million water buffalo (Bubalus bubalus) of two types:

• Swamp buffalo (the sturdy draft type associated with China and Southeast Asia) and
• River or riverine buffalo (combination draft and dairy animals commonly encountered in India, Pakistan and Europe).

They have only one-tenth the number of sweat glands of cattle and their hair coats are correspondingly sparse; some mature buffalo have very little hair indeed.

What Do Buffalo Look Like

Buffalo are large, immensely strong animals.

Depending on type and breed (there are 12 recognized dairy breeds in India alone) they stand 46-60 inches tall and can weigh 2,000 pounds or more.

• Swamp buffalo have thick bodies, short legs and crescent-shaped horns that sweep straight back from their skulls;
• River buffalo have longer legs, more angular bodies and shorter horns that curl back and then upward into loose spirals.

Facts about Buffalo

Water buffalo were domesticated from the wild Asian water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) at least 5,000 years ago. Most are calm, quiet, and very easily handled and trained.

• Buffalo aren’t fast (their average walking speed is two to three miles per hour) but they’re steady and unflappable, making them perfect riding and driving stock for people who take time to smell the roses.
• An estimated 5 to 15 percent of the world’s milk supply is water buffalo milk. Due to its high butterfat and milk-solids content, much of it is used to craft exquisite cheese.
• America imports 90,000 pounds of Italian mozzarella di bufala per year and large buffalo dairies in Vermont, Michigan and California are producing it too.
• Meat from young buffaloes is very lean, lightly marbled, and when cooked, looks exactly like comparable cuts of beef. In blind taste tests conducted in Trinidad, Australia, Venezuela and Malaysia, buffalo steaks consistently rated higher than prime beef!

Did You Know … About Buffalo?

• Read our water buffalo breed profile included with all our with cattle breed profiles.
• American buffalo are actually bison and only distantly related to water buffalo. The Cape buffalo of Africa belongs to a different genus (Syncerus) than either bison or water buffalo. Neither Cape buffalo nor American buffalo have ever been domesticated.
• Water buffalo are called carabao in the Philippines. The Philippine Carabao Center is developing a water buffalo capable of producing more than four gallons of milk per day. They also produced the world’s first cloned water buffalo in 2007.
• Swamp buffalo have 48 chromosomes and riverine buffalo have 50 chromosomes; however, their genetic material is much alike and they are interfertile. Many North American water buffalo are mixtures of the two. Light-colored, chevron-shaped marks on the chest indicate swamp buffalo breeding.
• The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu is often depicted riding a water buffalo. The Hindu god of death, Yama, rides a buffalo as well.

Which Will It Be: Yak or Water Buffalo?

Depending on your needs and where you live, one or the other species might work out better on your farm.

• Climate:Yaks take all the cold, blustery weather you can hand them (and they need only windbreaks to thrive); what they can’t abide is long spells of steamy, sizzling summer heat. Swamp buffalo are exactly the opposite; kept in the far North they require warm housing and their ears are still prone to freezing. River buffalo fall someplace in between; although snow and bitter cold are definitely not their element, they can thrive anywhere in the United States.
• Dairy: River buffalo give large quantities of high-quality milk; yaks and swamp buffalo also produce yummy, high-butterfat milk but considerably less of it.
• Fiber and pelts: Yaks win hands-down!
• Availability: According to The Yak, Second Edition, in 2006 there were roughly 2,000 yaks and yak hybrids in North America and there are about 4,000 water buffalo in the United States.
• Hybridization: Yaks are members of genus Bos, along with domestic cattle and bison, with which they can interbreed. First-generation hybrid males are sterile but females are fertile. Water buffalo can’t produce viable offspring when bred to members of genus Bos.

To learn more about these interesting, alternative bovines, check out their Hobby Farm Livestock Breed profiles and peruse these fine resources.

Dressed in black and white, admired and photographed by passing tourists, the famous stars of Aldermere Farm are nonetheless down-to-earth sorts who seem to savor the simple life: dining al fresco, feeling the winter sun on their backs, chewing their cuds.

OK, they’re beef cattle, not movie stars, but they really have garnered plenty of camera-toting fans.

In fact, Ron Howard, manager of this well-known Rockport, Maine, farm, believes Aldermere’s Belted Galloway cattle could possibly have the distinction of being the most-photographed bovines in the world.

Not surprising given their Panda-ish colors and striking patterns: black separated by a broad, white belt around the middle of their sturdy bodies.

Give them a backdrop of vivid spring greenery, golden summer grass, autumn leaves in flaming hues or winter’s austere white drifts, and you have one of the loveliest rural scenes imaginable. A scene—and a cattle breed—you likely won’t forget as long as you live.

Trish Smith, a Graham, Wash., hobby farmer who grew up in Ohio and often visited nearby Camden, Maine, with her family, certainly never forgot Aldermere and its Belted Galloways.

Established in 1953 by Albert Chatfield Jr., who bequeathed it to the Maine Coast Heritage Trust in 1999, Aldermere Farm preserves the oldest continuously operated herd of Belted Galloways in the United States.

At any time of year, a portion of the 75- to 100-head herd can be seen grazing lush pastures on either side of Russell Avenue.

Recently, after a poignant reunion to scatter her parents’ ashes off the Maine coast, Smith introduced her two grown daughters to the “Oreo” cattle she’d loved watching as a child.

“Someday I’m going to have some,” Smith vows as she eyes her 5-acre pasture back home, currently occupied by horses. “I’ve wanted these cattle ever since I first saw them as a kid.”

These belted beauties can’t help but have that kind of effect on people; however, Belted Galloways possess more than cute faces and pretty exteriors—something you’ll quickly discover if you take the time to get acquainted with them.

A Rare History

Born amongst the moors, rocky hills and woodlands of southwestern Scotland, the Belted Galloway breed developed during the 16th century in an ancient district known as Galloway.

Some sources think the name Galloway stems from the old Scottish word “Gallovid” which means “a Gaul,” a reference to the first people believed to reside there. In this rough and often rain-lashed area, a robust breed of Celtic cattle, usually polled (hornless) and possessing a shaggy black coat, had eked out an existence for hundreds of years.

Although no one knows for sure, these blocky Galloway cattle—thought to be the oldest of beef breeds—may have been crossed with imported Dutch Belted dairy cattle, also called Lakenvelders, to give us the Belted Galloway.

According to the U.S. Belted Galloway Society, the first Belties came to the United States in 1939, when Alice McLean of New York imported a bull and a dozen bred heifers from Great Britain.

Tragically, about 10 years later an unscrupulous herdsman butchered and sold off the rare cattle as black-market beef when she was away in England.

The next batch arrived in 1950, brought from Scotland to Hapwood Farm in Pennsylvania by Harry Prock, who went on to found the American Belted Galloway Breeders Association in 1951 with two more Beltie enthusiasts, Charles Wells of Michigan and H. Gordon Green of Quebec.

Coming to the United States

During the 1950s, a handful of other Beltie breeders joined the organization, including Aldermere’s Albert Chatfield Jr. and General James A. Van Fleet, who at the time operated Withlacoochee Farm in Florida. In 1964, they incorporated under the name Belted Galloway Society, Inc.

Bringing Belties in from their native Scotland was expensive, costing about $7,000 per animal, so few cattle raisers kept them, notes Jane Faul, a veteran Beltie breeder in Battletown, Ky., with some 30 years’ experience.

During the 1970s, she had stumbled upon a photograph of the striking breed accompanied by an article billing Belties as “the lazyman’s cattle” because of their self-sufficiency.

“I thought, ‘I can go for that,’” she recalls. “But at the point when I came in, if you wanted to get into Belties you had to spend three or four months on the phone trying to find someone who wanted to part with one. It took me five months to get five animals together, and I was lucky to find them.”

Only about 100 Belties had journeyed to North America when the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, also known as mad cow disease) outbreak in Great Britain put a stop to live imports in 1989. Even though breeders could still import semen and embryos for their breeding programs, Belties remained scarce.

The commercial beef industry’s emphasis on uniform cattle with large frames and rapid growth did little to help boost the breed’s numbers.

The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy’s 1994 book Taking Stock: The North American Livestock Census listed Belted Galloways in the “rare” category on their Conservation Priority List, meaning the breed had an estimated global population of less than 5,000 and fewer than 1,000 registrations in North America.

Thanks to the efforts of its enthusiastic supporters, though, the Beltie’s popularity—and population—has grown in recent years as more people discover this unique breed and its exceptional meat.

Today, Belted Galloways have moved up to the “Recovering” category of the ALBC’s Conservation Priority List, which means the organization estimates these cattle have exceeded the “Watch” category’s global population of 10,000 or less and fewer than 2,500 registrations in North America, but they still need to be monitored. What’s even more heartening: Faul thinks the breed’s worldwide population could be closer to 30,000.

The U.S. Belted Galloway Society itself currently has more than 10,000 active animals in its registry, and the organization that started with three individuals now stands at 1,000 Beltie-loving members strong.

All-season Cattle

Wisconsin, where winter temperatures plunge to 30 degrees F below zero and the average yearly snowfall varies from 30 to more than 100 inches across the state, demands that its inhabitants be hardy, especially those living outdoors year-round.

So when Michael Caldwell, MD, PhD, and his wife, Lorna, started thinking about raising organic, grassfed cattle on their Milladore, Wis., farm, they looked for a breed capable of weathering the rough winters without batting an eyelash.

Enter the Belted Galloway, with a dense, double coat—both beautiful and functional—consisting of a shaggy, weather-resistant outer layer and soft, insulating undercoat.

“Belties are so well insulated that when it snows, the snow on their backs doesn’t melt,” says Lorna. “We have a shelter for ours, but they prefer to take shelter in the woods; they don’t like being inside.”

Coastal Maine’s harsh winters pose no problem for the Aldermere’s Belties, either.

“While we have buildings and shelters where our young stock or pre-calving cows have access, they’re perfectly suited to doing well in the open,” explains Howard. “We just make sure they have a sheltered area away from the wind to rest and give them plenty of fresh water and hay throughout winter.”

Indeed, Scotland’s capricious climate has created an adaptable breed capable of toughing out all kinds of weather and difficult conditions, from torrential rains to sweltering summers. (They love a pond to cool off in, though.)

“Belties are unique in that they can do well even in hotter climates, as they won’t carry their extra hair through warmer weather,” Howard says.

Belted Galloways are Survivors

The moderately sized Belted Galloways have retained many of the survival traits bred out of the larger, more traditional cattle breeds, he stresses.

For example, long-lived Belties generally show good resistance to diseases, and the cows tend to to have an easy time come calving season. Thanks to the probable Dutch Belted dairy influence, Beltie cows are excellent milkers whose calves thrive on their rich, high-butterfat milk.

“Over the years, I’ve only had to pull maybe five calves,” Faul says. “And Belties are definitely good mothers—they’ll even run coyotes off.”

Beltie enthusiasts also praise these cattle as efficient grazers and feed converters (they’ll eat plants other cattle spurn, Howard notes), a trait that makes them an excellent choice for grass-based operations like the one at Caldwell Farms.

“We don’t feed our cattle grain at all,” Michael explains. “We use management-intensive grazing, and in the wintertime, we feed them haylage [fermented alfalfa, clovers and grasses], which we harvest during the summer and store in our silos.”

“The organic inspector couldn’t believe that these plump animals are getting no extra feedings of grain, they look so good,” Lorna adds. “It boils down to their genetics and being fed good-quality grass.”

The Beef on Belties

While many Beltie owners opt to keep these cattle as pasture ornaments or focus on preservation efforts, an increasing number of breeders raise them for what they were developed for so long ago in Scotland: beef production.

“Twenty years ago, people wouldn’t have considered putting one of their Belties in the freezer, but this breed lends itself extremely well to grassfed operations,” says Faul. And what about that beef? “It’s definitely good meat: lean and very flavorful, with a darker color than commercial beef.”

Protected by their weatherproof coats, Belties don’t need to lay down much back fat to stay warm during winter.

This translates to more beef—properly finished, Galloways and their crosses dress out at 60 to 62 percent of their live weight—and a meat product low in total fat as well as saturated fat, yet still juicy and packed with flavor.

For the Caldwells, Michael’s background in the medical field made it only natural that they would raise their Belties organically and humanely on pasture rather than use confinement methods favored by commercial beef producers.

With more consumers today concerned about the treatment of livestock and the safety of our food in light of E. coli scares and bacterial resistance to antibiotics, it also made good business sense for them to take this path. Right now, beef and other meat products are the fastest-growing segments of the organic-foods industry.

Organic farming, however, takes hard work and dedication; easy fixes like hormones to boost cattle growth or synthetic fertilizers to create lush pastures aren’t an option.

For instance, producing USDA-certified organic beef requires that the Caldwells tend the land where their Belted Galloways graze while keeping environmental sustainability in mind, shunning synthetic pesticides, fertilizers and other potentially hazardous agrichemicals.

Also, the cattle cannot receive any antibiotics or hormones during their entire lives. If one of their bovines becomes ill and requires antibiotics, the couple must pull it from organic production for treatment and finish raising the animal for sale as “natural” beef.

All of this demands documentation, including detailed records of each animal’s life history, plus the yearly inspection to maintain their certification.

Belties are Worth It

It’s clear the Caldwells believe the extra work is worth it and that their hearty, efficient Belted Galloways have been a gift to them, their organic farm and their customers.

“Our feeling is that we want to be comfortable with the products we sell,” says Michael. “We want to give our customers the best quality and the healthiest meat products. I couldn’t imagine raising feedlot cattle.”

If you don’t mind getting questions like “Why do you put those sheets on them every day?” or “How do you paint the white stripes around them?” you might want to consider adding these belted beauties to your hobby farm.

According to Howard, given regular handling, these medium-sized cattle are easy to work with, and they make great projects for kids to show (he does warn they can be skittish if left on their own).

Surprisingly, raisers often find Beltie bulls friendlier and calmer than the cows!

“The Belted Galloways are self promoters in that people are automatically drawn to them,” says Howard, who grew up from second grade onward at Aldermere while his father, Dwight Howard, worked as farm manager helping the Chatfields conserve this breed.

By the way, after he graduated from high school, Howard vowed he would never have anything to do with farming again, but by now you know how Belties are: Eight years ago, they called him back to the farm.

“Because these cattle are so distinctive and the quality of their meat is so consistently high, they’re perfect for the hobby farmer who wants beautiful, self-sufficient animals that can be easily marketed for their beef on a local scale,” Howard continues.

“I’ve sold some to farms that don’t even sell beef; they may just have a farm stand and want some Belties in the field to attract customers; they’re a traffic-stopper. If you were to design a marketing plan and a cow for your logo to attract customers, it would have to be the Belted Galloway.”